H.39

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Rank IV USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Tu-1 Pack
H.39
fr_hotchkiss_h39.png
H.39
AB RB SB
1.0 1.0 1.0
Class:
Research:Free
Purchase:Free
Show in game
This page is about the light tank H.39. For the premium version, see H.39 «Cambronne».

Description

GarageImage H.39.jpg


The Char léger modèle 1935 H modifié 39 (Hotchkiss light tank model 1935 modified 1939) is a reserve rank I French light tank with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance" and replaced the H.35 as one of France's two reserve vehicles in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

Compared to its predecessor, the H.39 features a serviceable gun, thicker armour, and a significantly more powerful engine, which makes it, when fully upgraded, surprisingly speedy on flat ground for low level French tanks. Nevertheless, this vehicle's gun and mobility are below average compared its peers from other nations. While it is mobile in a straight line, it maneuvers slowly and its narrow tracks slow it down substantially cross-country. The H.39 should be played as a close support tank, best utilized in urban maps and following its teammates while waiting for a good shot opportunity.

General info

Survivability and armour

With a rather constant 45-50 mm effective thickness from all sides, this tank can be a hard nut to crack if spotted at a good distance (500+ m), and can take a good beating up close if care is taken to properly angle and avoid tanks with especially potent guns. However, its armour should not be relied upon; most reserve tank guns are capable of penetrating its raw armour thickness and have faster reloads, so hard cover should be utilized generously. With only 2 crewmen, any penetrating shot could be your last.

Armour type:

  • Cast homogeneous armour
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 40 mm (8-87°) Front plate
22 mm (75-85°), 40 mm (31°) Front glacis
40 mm (30°) Lower glacis
40 mm (1-33°)
40 mm (1-2°)
40 mm (24-30°) Top
40 mm (9-32°) Bottom
22 mm
Turret 45 + 25 mm (5°) Turret front
45 mm (28-30°) Left side
25 mm (10-19°) Gun mantlet
40 mm (1-27°) 40 mm (8-63°) 25 mm
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 40 mm 40 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are all 15 mm thick.
  • Turret ring is 35 mm thick with a 5 mm protective collar.
  • Trench-crossing tail at the hull rear is 5 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armor
weight (tons)
Max speed (km/h)
12.1 N/A 41 (AB)
36 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 130 160
Realistic/Simulator 106 120
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 10.74 13.22
Realistic/Simulator 8.76 9.92

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: SA38 L/33 (37 mm)
The 37 mm SA38 has significantly better penetration and post-penetration damage than its predecessor, but has a longer reload rate than its peers. Know your enemies' insides well, target their gunners first or immobilize them by shooting at the engine, and take care to make every shot count. Avoid exchanging shots at long distances as your gun's penetration values decrease heavily.
37 mm SA38 L/33
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
76 -13°/+20° ±180° Vertical
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 14.95 20.69 25.12 27.77 29.55
Realistic 9.34 10.99 13.34 14.75 15.70
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
5.20 4.60 4.24 4.00
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
Mle1938 APC 48 45 32 21 14 9
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
Mle1938 APC 705 0.7 N/A N/A N/A ° 48° 63° 71°
Ammo racks
Ammo racks of the H.39.
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
76 75 (+1) 10 (+66) (+75) Yes

Machine guns

Main article: MAC 31 (7.5 mm)
7.5 mm MAC 31
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
2,400 (150) 1,350 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

Use the same tactics as with other French rank 1 vehicles; follow the pack and take shots whenever the opportunity shows. Use your decent mobility to assist in flanking manoeuvres (i.e. in urban maps) and put shots into your enemies' weak sides. Find hard cover that can't be shot through, angle strongly, and poke in and out between your shots, as your reload can't match that of your opponents.

On maps with hilly terrain, stick with your teammates near the capture point, go hull-down, and wait for anything to fall in your sights. Try to immobilize your target on your first shot. Get back into cover between reloads and pop out a few meters away from your last spot.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Tiny tank with tiny profile
  • -13° of gun depression
  • Has a gun stabilizer mechanic, which makes stop-and-shoot tactics easier and faster
  • MAC 31 is an excellent coaxial MG
  • Thick all-around armour that can be very strongly angled
  • Moderately powerful engine that can keep it at its 41 km/h top speed on flat ground
  • Decent reverse speed of -7 km/h
  • Arguably the best French rank 1 tank

Cons:

  • Only 2 crew members
  • Only one choice of ammunition, which has no explosive filler
  • Sub-par penetration
  • Long reload for the caliber
  • Driver's hatch is almost completely vertical
  • Narrow tracks means poor ground flotation

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === Encyclopedia Info ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

  • reference to the series of the vehicles;
  • links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • encyclopedia page on the tank;
  • other literature.


France light tanks
AMC.34/35  AMC.34 YR · AMC.35 (ACG.1)
H.35/39  H.35 · H.39 · H.39 "Cambronne"
AMX-13  AMX-13 (FL11) · AMX-13-M24 · AMX-13 · AMX-13 (SS.11) · AMX-13-90 · AMX-13 (HOT)
Wheeled  AML-90 · AMX-10RC
AMD.35  AMD.35 · AMD.35 (SA35)
E.B.R.  E.B.R. (1951) · E.B.R. (1954) · E.B.R. (1963)
Other  FCM.36 · R.35 (SA38) · Char 25t · MARS 15 · VBCI-2 (MCT30)
Austria  SK-105A2
Great Britain  ▄Crusader Mk.II
USA  LVT-4/40 · ▄M3A3 Stuart